Pain of finals omission driving Tiger Lloyd in 2016

Mic'd Up: LloydListen to forward Sam Lloyd out on the track during a Tiger's pre-season training session.

Sam Lloyd in action during Tigers' training

I'll admit I thought I should have played, but I've got to keep working so I'm definitely there this season if we play finals

Sam Lloyd

Sam Lloyd's omission on the eve of last year's finals series was the elephant in the room when the small forward sat down for his end of season exit meeting.

Six days after being told his good form was not enough to keep him in the team for the Tigers' elimination final against North Melbourne, Lloyd was still raw when he fronted a panel of Richmond coaches and football staff.

Sitting across from him were Damien Hardwick, his line coach Greg Mellor, physical performance manager Peter Burge, list manager Blair Hartley and head of coaching Tim Livingstone.